Guide to Vietnam: Sa Pa

We took the Victoria Express night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. The train left at 9:50 pm and arrived at 6:15 am. There were four of us to each birth with four little beds, two on top and two on the bottom. Its worth getting the sleeper car for the extra cost – they provide little gift bags crafted in the local Sa Pa embroidery tradition filled with tooth brush, tooth paste, water, slippers and hand wipes.

Sa Pa is a frontier town located in Northwest Vietnam. The temperature is mild and ranges from 50 – 70 degrees throughout the year, and is often cloudy and damp. The landscape is lush and green, with rice terraces that span as far as the eye can see and disappear into the clouds above you.

Every Saturday Sa Pa has a market full of goods from surrounding villages. The textiles are amazing and the raw pigments for dying and watercolor are unbelievable! We loved the neon plaids the women in Sa Pa wear – we picked some up on our trip to the market and wove them into Martha’s hair :)

The Ta Van village in the Muong Hoa Valley is just a 30 minute drive from Sa Pa town. Be sure to visit the amazing suspension bridge!